today... we were going to be in delhi from 640am until 1030pm at night. we were dreading the long day without a place to crash. we were dreading the pollution. the people. the poverty.
delhi was pretty all that and more!
i woke around 530am just a little bit before jennifer and started breaking down my bunk and packing up our stuff. she woke shortly after that we spent the last hour of the train ride looking out of the window as the sun rose and watching the "slumdogs" (can you tell we just watched the movie?) go about their morning duty.
india is a poor, poor country. despite the great leaps forward it has made in the past 10 years becoming a technology giant, etc. most of the country is poor. basics like running water and sanitation are considered a luxury. most of the time... people get drinking water from the same water where people wash their clothes or go to the bathroom. many people live in terrible conditions. either on the street or in slums on the outskirts of towns.
we saw all of this as the train lumbered into delhi. we saw hundreds... no i would estimate thousands of people relieving (think #2) themselves next to or on the train tracks. an hour almost non stop bathroom- going. the trash and filth was overwhelming. the kids running around half dressed or naked. the diseased and disabled.
as soon as we arrive at the station and disembarked from the train... things got crazy. swarms of "guides" and "drivers" insisting that they help us. one after another after another. hard not to get angry and annoyed as it is non-stop but i kept telling myself that most of them are honest hard working people just trying to get by. a $2.00 taxi ride could mean enough money for someone to buy dinner that night.
we didn't want to carry our bags with us all day so jen talked our way into a five star hotel called the imperial. super, super swank. i have no idea how they let us in as we both smelled and had on week old dirty clothes. at the concierge desk i asked if they could keep our bags for the day and they said that the service was "only for guest of the hotel". jen broke out with the "but we are friends with chris hattayer from the american embassy"... which was true with the exception of the fact that chris works at the embassy in bishkek and has never even been to india. the clerk was impressed though and agreed to watch our bags. we checked them in and then hung out at the hotel for about 45 minutes... taking turns cleaning up in the restroom and using the bathroom (yes... real toilets!).
the travel has finally caught up with jen and she was feeling low energy and tired all day. we made an effort to walk around central delhi for a while but ended up spliting our time between a mcdonalds (no quarter pounders or big macs... chicken and veggie burgers only)... a coffee shop... and a pizza hut (we were tired of indian food and needing comfort food at this point... we don't have any "american" food in bishkek).
although our flight wasn't until almost 1100pm... we decided to head to the airport a bit early... like six hours early! that way we could find a nice, cool place to sit and jen could nap to her hearts content. we were ready to get home.
in the crowded terminal we ended up sitting next to a guy from houston... pretty small world.
our flight out of delhi was uneventful and we landed back in almaty around 330am sunday morning. bought transit visas. met our driver outside the terminal (he showed up!) and then immediately crashed in the car (jen in the front with the seat reclined and me in the back) for the five hour drive back to bishkek. arrived home around 900am.
No comments:
Post a Comment